Top 5 albums of the year, according to me:

1. Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers


2. mcenroe - Convenience EP (Not really an album, but dope nonetheless. Watch for his Disenfranchised album in '03)


3. Rocket From the Crypt - Live From Camp X-Ray


4. El-P - Fantastic Damage


5. Sixtoo - Duration

My resolutions(already posted at gigposters.com):

1. Draw more(even though I'll be drawing constantly in school)


2. Cut the laziness, procrastination...it sucks.


3. Save more cash


4. Spend less time on the web(I should be disconnecting at home today. If you don't hear from me for a while, I'm working, and hopefully not dead.)


5. Live life to the fullest as much as possible(see point 4)

Hey...have fun in what ever y'all are doing tonight. Play safe. Don't fuck around and get killed or something. I'll be pretty pissed at you. I'm slowly weaning myself off the web(see point 4 above), so posts will be kinda few n' far between. Nose to the grindstone and all that shit. Feel free to e-mail me, of course! Well, I guess that's it for now. Take care!
May a whole lotta lovin' come your way 2003.

Here we are on the cusp of a new year. And here I am, up late for no reason. Old habits die hard.

I spent yesterday evening setting up the brand-new stereo(!!)my girlfriend bought for me for Christmas! And thanx to the magic of Boxing Day, I have 10 new albums to play on it:

• Neko Case and her Boyfriends - The Virginian


• Art Blakey Quintet - A Night at Birdland Vol. 2


• Mr. Lif - I Phantom


• Edan - Primitive Plus


• J-Live - All of the Above


• Tom Waits - Blood Money


• Tom Waits - Alice


• The Hummers - Save the Jets


• The Roots - Phrenology


• The Mummies - Never Been Caught

I'm the luckiest guy in the world. Now I'm gonna look for naked chicks.

The Roots have the best album liner notes I've ever read. I believe ?uestlove writes 'em, and they're both entertaining and informative. They really capture the vibe of what was going on in the recording process, which is what I feel they should do, either track-by-track(like their new one, Phrenology), or in the acknowledgements(any Peanuts and Corn release, El-P's Fantastic Damage). Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back got me reading liner notes(remember the shout-out list on that one? Huge! Then Fear of a Black Planet? Fugghedaboutit.), so now I'm hooked. Actually, album packaging as a whole is my sort of thing. I discovered my favorite designer Art Chantry through his work with Estrus Records. Gotta give props to El-P for bringing in a guy like Dan Ezra Lang to do stuff for Definitive Jux. His work is mad versatile. If work my ass off, I'll be doing that type of shit someday. Wish me luck y'all.

Yo! It's Boxing Day here in Canada and the U.K. The day also known as Buytheshityoureallywantday. Always fun! Hope Santa was good to ya!

Christmas isn't Christmas unless I watch these two films...A Christmas Carol (aka "Scrooge") and It's a Wonderful Life. They both make me cry, especially Scrooge. Alastair Sim was a master.

Christmas shout-outs:

• My lovely girlfriend, Sarah


• Scrojo


• Clay, Kendra, and all the gigposters.com regulars


• Jim Altieri


• Tom aka Standard


• Troy and E. of UrbanTherapy.com


• Iron Canucks(my boys for life)


• RRC Graphic Design Program(staff, students past and present)


• Greg Oakes


• the Break Bread crew


• Troy(soso)and Epic of Clotheshorse Records


• the Winnipeg Punk and Sexcore boards


• Tablist.ca(what up, Brace?)


• Ann Marie(stay beautiful!)


• Electra Summers(you too...stay beautiful!)


• Les Toil


• Mister Reusch(yer tha best!)


• the Unofficial Untalkative Bunny Fan Club


• my man Floyd Lee


• Misericordia housekeeping staff


• Broadway Pharmacy


• Dave Crosland


• Jon Hein


• Cat of Cat's House of Fun


• Salgood Sam


• Seripop


• hey, if I forgot one of youse...kick my ass later. It's Christmas! Put down your ass-kicking foot.

I'm working tomorrow. Not happy.

In case I forget, Merry Christmas to everyone reading this thing. Love ya!

Jump the Shark revisited: Got a note not too long ago from Jon Hein, the author of the Jump the Shark book himself. No foul done, he wrote the Rolling Stone article. And he was flattered by the mention in Non Sequitur. Don't know what I'm talking about? Lookee here, baby.

I'm trying to add permanent links to this thing...we'll see if it works!
(9:11 PM...it does!)

Props to Kathy Bates for doing full frontal nudity in her new film! I can't see enough big women naked, really.

Junko Mizuno does some really cute, and really creepy shit. Check her official English site here, and if you pick up the latest Giant Robot(which you'd be pretty stupid to not do), you can catch an interview with her. Oh yes, the infamous Barry McGee(aka Twist) is also in that issue, and did the cover. I love that dude's work. Him, Giant, and Reas AOK(Todd James)are my favorite writers.

Right now, Radiohead's video for "Push/Pull Spinning Plates" is on the Wedge. In it, an elaborate machine is used to separate a pair of conjoined twins by centrifugal force. Weird, and hard to take your eyes off of.

I may have unintentionally an internet acquaintance dissed someone by not saying hello at the Collective on Wednesday. I had a case of shyness and self-doubt tucked under each arm. If you're reading this at all, I'm really sorry.
Of course, I could be making a big deal out of nothing, which I tend to do. (Note to self: take meds properly, for fuck's sake!)

Sunday is Pink Day on Much. In the ad for it, the voiceover sez, "wanna see some Pink?" The nasty fuck inside of me is like, "HELL YEAH!! BRING IT ON!!" Where's the "tsk, tsk" emoticon?

Gotta work in the mornin'. Whoo! Money's good!!

ILL RAP BATTLE 3
Amazing.
I arrived at the Collective at 11 PM, thinking things might be half-over, and half-full. Fuck, was I wrong! Not only did I arrive in enough time to say my hellos and see things start, but I was amazed at the turnout...the Collective was packed! For the last Ill Rap Battle, there were 13 emcees, and they made up half the audience. This time, 25 emcees registered, and a rather vocal(and large)crowd was in attendance. It was well-publicized on local shows...but some would say that the 8 Mile factor was in effect. Y'know...that movie? With that, like, guy? He raps n' shit?
Yeah...that 8 Mile.
Anyway...I was happy with the turnout. My hope is that it's the sign of even better things to come. I was told that a lot of the emcees that showed up were actually part of the battle circuit(including the days of Braemar Bakery, which I totally missed. Stupid me! ), and I did recognize some faces from other battles n' shows.
Anyway, quality-wise, one of the best, if not the best battles I've seen(I think that honor belongs to the Spitboxers competition back in '99 featuring John Smith and Ismalia...blindingly good.).

Highlights:
- There was mad tension in this thing...Pip Skid battled Grubbs(aka Wattson)in a re-match from the previous Ill Rap Battle. It seemed to get a little personal that time, and there was no love lost this time either. I think Grubbs choked a little in his last go-round, and it hurt him. Pip ended up victorious.

- Pip did a really ballsy thing that night. He pointed at one of the judges and said,"I dissed this guy in a song, and I'm still gonna win!" That definitely got the crowd! For the record, the judge was Spitz of Mood Ruff, one of Winnipeg's pioneering rap groups. The song was "Peg Leg City", off Peanuts and Corn's Factory Seconds. Around that time, DJ Hunnicutt and Wax Museum's Rob Tremblay removed themselves from the judge's area, due to conflict of interest, no doubt. Spitz did the right thing and gave the nod to Pip. I believe he was battling Mark S. at the time.

- MC Curtis the Frog entertained the crowd(and himself, no doubt)by showing off his b-boy prowess and blowing smoke rings during his opponent's rebuttals.

- There were a couple of love-ins on the mic as group/crew members faced off. Grubbs and Edwords made a go of it, but it wasn't very memorable. They just didn't go for the jugular. Grubbs managed to edge him out. Gruf the Druid and Pip Skid ended up facing each other, and I think everyone was anticipating a fierce round, but alas, it was not to be. They just couldn't diss each other! It was both sweet and disheartening at the same time. I feel the fact that Gruf didn't finish his 30 second rebuttal hurt him, and Pip went onward.

- Gotta give props to the lanky one, DJ Haruki for getting in there all the time with his way-out-there nursery rhyme style and huge-ass pants. Comic relief, and good effort.

- Bobby Lee was mad fun to watch. You could just tell he was enjoying himself up there. Versus Mindsharp, he was the picture of ease. That I do believe got Mindsharp a little frustrated, and he sorta caved on his last turn. He definitely held hs own though.

- The final between Bobby Lee and Pip Skid was intense, not only between them, but Pip and section of the crowd representing the Maples(the suburbs). The final was topic-based, and Mr. Ness got a topic from an emcee that was in the battle earlier(I believe his name was Ruckus)that also was down with that Maples bunch. The topic? "Fashion display".
What the fuck is that?
"Fashion", I could understand, but really, what the fuck is a "fashion display"?
Whatever...Pip eliminated Maples representative Mark S. earlier, so that part of the crowd was out for blood. The moment Pip apparently drifted off-topic, the crowd chanted "choke"(which was apparently in the movie...I wouldn't know. Haven't seen it. I wanted to see Brittany Murphy naked, and I hear that all that's really seen is Mr. Mathers' ass. Uh, no thanx, yo.). Pip did manage to get some lines in though, desite all that. Bobby Lee dropped some ill punchlines about Pippi Longstocking, rednecks, and slaying Pip's cattle(Pip's from Brandon...I doubt he ever had cattle. It was still funny, though). When the smoke cleared, Bobby Lee got the win.

I'm telling you. I can't wait for the next battle, man. Not only to see these cats go at it again, but there were some truly vicious emcees missing from this installment. John Smith, the previous IRB winner was sick. Ismalia of FrekSho was MIA, and so was Eclipse of Shadez. Those three would've killed the wack competition right away. I really hope they're in the next one.

Good times, no doubt.

Benoit vs. Angle on SmackDown. See ya later.

Just came back from a wicked MC battle. I'll write more later, I'm tired.

"Jumping the shark" was mentioned in today's Non-Sequitur, so I guess it's some sort of public domain type thing. I'll get off my high horse now.

Ladies n' gentlemen...Adam Connelly. Thanks for the link, Clay. Ya weirdo. :)

I mentioned "jumping the shark" in my last entry. It seems to me that Rolling Stone recently used that concept without giving proper credit to Jon Hein, creator of Jump the Shark. While this is usually applied to TV shows(the point where your favorite programs get fucked up), they used it for pop culture phenomena, like Kid Rock(they seemed pretty dead-on right there).and WWE. Apparently, Rolling Stone and JtS were affiliated a while back, but parted ways. Amicably? Don't know. Smells fishy to me.

On an entirely different note: I'm not too sure what's going on in this, but I'm pretty certain of one thing...Kikkoman is not to be fucked with.

I'm missing Chicago right now. I was there for under a week in April, and it felt like home. Beautiful fuckin' city.

Is there a loser scale out there? I wanna see where I fit in. Here are my "attributes":
- 27 going on 55
- Livin' with Moms...still.
- Lazy as fuck.
- King of self-deprication(read earlier entries in this weblog for proof)
- Whiner(again, read the rest of this weblog...although this entry proves it)
- 2000-plus Ideas vs. zero ambition(the eternal struggle)
The one thing that keeps me from setting up permanent residence in Loserdom, is the fact that I have a fine-ass girlfriend.
Almost five years with the same good-lovin' lady. Must be doing something right. Haven't "jumped the shark" yet.
Time will tell.

I'm gonna clean my room. I'll probably be more pleasant in the morning. Tomorrow is another day, after all.
And I'm gonna take my medication properly.

Ladies and gentlemen, Art Frahm.

Amanda Walsh is such a cutie. And for some reason, I'm having a hard time picturing her naked. I really don't know why.
I'm going to Perkins.

There ain't enough big women on TV, f'real. That's why ABC's **** **** ******* is so dope. I started watching it because I think **** *** is tasty. Imagine my surprise to find out that this show not one, but two, really fly chunky girls! Sherri Shepherd is damn fine. Seeing those two on the screen is sweet beyond belief.
Oh yeah, the show's pretty funny too.

I'm hungry.

On Tuesday, I watched an episode of TLC's A Wedding Story, and liked it. So there. Nyahh.

When someone hates a magazine, why do they refer to it as a "rag"? Back in the day, yeah, that would be pretty insulting. Now, it's passe, as far as I'm concerned(I can't find the accented "e"!). Why don't folks say shit like, "your magazine is more suitable as a rectal swab"? If I were an editor, I'd weep upon hearing that.

One of the dopest rhymes EVER:
"Life's not a bitch/Life is a beautiful woman/You only call her a bitch/'Cuz she wouldn't let you get that pussy/Maybe she didn't feel y'all shared any similar interests/Or maybe you're just an asshole/That couldn't sweet talk a princess..." - Aesop Rock, "Daylight"

Why I still don't have his Labor Days album is beyond me. Maybe I'll get it for Christmas, 'cuz it was on my list. Or maybe I'll get it on Boxing Day(aka Buytheshityoureallywant Day). Time will tell.

I'm afraid of living in a world where young men do not know what real breasts look like. I feel for our male youth. That's it...if I'm gonna have to distribute random copies of Voluptuous and Perfect 10 in high schools throughout North America to sway their eyes towards natural beauty, then by golly, that's what I'ma do! The boys gotta know!!


Shit, did I just type that? Ummm...yup.

BTW, Perfect 10 has all-natural models and Voluptuous has models of all sizes(from petite to "plumper"...I never thought I'd get sick of that word, but I think it's happening)with gargantuan breastseses. Hey, I know what I recommend.

Speaking of recommending things, see Doug Pray's Scratch. It's an outstanding film, and a great from a filmmaker that is an outsider to hip-hop culture. The only thing missing from the film was an innterview with Kool Herc, the man at the centre of hip-hop's genesis(I believe he tried, but things didn't work out). I think most folks that don't believe that a turntable is an instrument will be turned into believers. And even if they don't get converted, they'll be a little wiser about hip-hop culture as a whole. F'real. Need info? Lookee here. His first film, Hype!, is also quite good.

I'm off to a bingo bowling Christmas party for my girlfriend and her co-workers. It looks like I'll be seeing my Mom's former supervisor there. I'm already not in a good mood. I'm gonna have to put on my "I'm a good boyfriend" game face on. At least it's MY game: 5-pin. Canada's game.

I was gonna be all bitchy in this installment, but I decided against it. It's never pretty. I'm glad I was scheduled to work today. The only thing about that was I had to work. It continually boggles my mind that my Mom has done this for 32 years. I've been at this since June and dislike it muchly. But the money is good. When you think about it, the difference between Mom and myself is that she actually likes this. Get in where you fit in, y'all. If you wanna be an accountant, ditchdigger, porn star -whatever- go for it.

I'm one to talk. I can barely psych myself out of a chair.

Well, it's official. I'm a pussy.
I was just remembering a scene from Titanic, the film my girlfriend and I saw on our 2nd date, and a film I'm pretty certain I'll never see again. Y'all remeber that scene when Rose and Jack are(dare I say)making love in a car, and Rose says, "put your hands on me, Jack"? While I was working today, I was like, Wow, that's like sexy and romantic at the same time.
If black men could blush.
I've given myself bonus pussy points for remembering that Oprah liked that scene a lot.

I'm off to the opposite corner of the room to weep bitterly.

Fuck! That four-way elimination match with Benoit, Guerrero, Edge, and Angle was amazing!! When you know the end result of match and you're still enthralled...THAT'S GOOD WRESTLING. SmackDown isn't perfect, but it's got the best(easily accessible)wrestling on TV. Now...if they could only do something about the once-great RAW. Those writers suck donkey coil.

Just had me a peanut butter and egg nog milkshake - no ice cream. Fanfuckintastic.
*sigh*...gonna have to disconnect the web at home. It's time. When that time is...not sure.
When you hear from me on this thing, it'll be from school, my girlfriend's house, or(*shudder*)the library.
For now, everything is copacetic!

DOPE SHOWS COMIN' UP...
At the Collective: 11th - Milch and Allegra Night featuring YBIMBP*(the folks that released the aformentioned EP...which I have yet to get), Equanim, and guests. 18th - Ill Rap Battle 3! I guarantee...sucka MCs will get smacked silly!! Verbally, of course.

At the Albert: on the 20th, the Hummers release their new album.

At the Pyramid: the following night, The Peanuts and Corn Revue!! Apparently the whole Break Bread crew will be in the house(mcenroe is the only crew member living outside of Winnipeg), and Mr. Pinkgitch** aka John Smith will be releasing his new 7" entitled, High Arctics. It's all about Churchill, and it's all dope. Give'r a listen at
peanutsandcorn.com. Sweetness. These guys can do no wrong.

Hey! One of the Untalkative Bunny seasonal episodes will make it's debut today at 5 PM(central) on Teletoon. YAY!

The incredibly talented Dan Grzeca of Chicago informed me that he too, shall be joining the Blog race! This is good news. And this guy is fuckin' good too, man. When I get the URL, I'll post it. In the meantime,
check this shit out. I wish I had this dude's talent.

Ann Marie of prettyfat.com is gonna send me off with truly sweet dreams tonight. She added an update to her Sexy Gallery(part 2 of the White photo shoot), and it is tasty. Good Lord. I'm hurtin' over here! I wish there were more big girls like her in the world...that'd be my Utopia. Go
here. Feast your eyes!

I taped SmackDown! tonight, and I'm watching it right now. I may have ruined it by reading
Scott Keith's review first, but he's a knowledgeable guy, so what the fuck? Some cat at the Break Bread board was worried about battling becoming commercial since 8 Mile, and he's got good reason. John Cena and Rikishi were just "battling". One of the wackest things I've ever seen. There are a lot of shitty things going on in the WWE.
Chris Benoit gave the best interview of his career, and I've been following most of that amazing history. I already know the results of the 4-way match, but I'm gonna watch it anyway. Later, y'all.

*YBIMBP = Your Brother in My Backpack
**Mr. Pinkgitch = That's Canuckspeak for ya. "Gitch" means underwear. In the West, it's gitch...out East, "gotch". Ask around.

There's never enough bacon.
And there's no such thing as "too much bacon".

I'm a huge fan of
Untalkative Bunny. It's painfully cute. The second season started recently, and those episodes can be seen on Mondays and Fridays on Teletoon here in Canada(5 PM Central). I freakin' love it to death!

I'm hoping that now, my archiving problem has been solved.

Just a little addendum to the "fake tit" thing:

I've been watching breast augmentation surgery on Life Network. That's some ill shit. Really.
Reconstructive surgery I totally understand. You're regaining something you lost due to cancer or an accident. A part of yourself.
But new tits in the name of career advancement? Fitting into a dress better? To get additional glances from men and/or women?

Pffft. Whatever. It's your life, your body. What I feel about the matter shouldn't mean shit to you. I'm just some dude with an ass fetish.

Another thing: I'm really glad Thora Birch was in American Beauty. She brought the right amount of brooding to her character. But the fact that her character was saving money for a boob job got clouded as soon as we saw her topless. She REALLY didn't need 'em. Bad casting? Probably not. It's been a while since I saw that film...was she gonna get 'em specifically to piss off her parents? I can't remember.
Maybe her and Mena Suvari should've switched roles.

If they did, Thora woulda got all those magazine covers back in '99 that Mena did. Leaving me a happy man.

In addition, seeing Ms. Birch topless made me feel kinda funny, because I've watched her grow up on both big and small screens.

Doesn't make her any less tasty, though.

The soundtrack for this post was provided by lrock of the mighty TOOSICKZ crew. It's a mixtape, man...apparently you can find this in town(Peg City, that is)with the "Toosickz Magazine". Those of us missing out(like I probably will) can download each side(or stream 'em)right
here. I'd better get my ass over to
Wax Museum in the morning.

I'd like to take this opportunity to give a little shout out to Troy and E. of
UrbanTherapy. Troy has posted comments here a few times, hangs out at gigposters(there's a link at the left...as if you didn't know), and does the art thing himself. I already know he does more than my lazy ass, 'cuz he informed me that he "gets his draw on quite a bit". :) Good lookin', man.

I gonna wash the dishes and enjoy that fine -21 weather. Later, y'all.

LESBIANS I LOVE.

Tristan Taormino
I've mentioned this fine-ass lady before. Lately, she's been a regular on the Ricki Lake show, handing down her sex wisdom. Not only has she written
The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women, but she produced a two volume video set for it as well!
And damn if she isn't hot! I don't think I've ever see a woman in glasses look so fine. She's like, a really hot librarian!

A really hot librarian that's into fisting and genital torture. *ahem*
See her tasty self(and a whole lot more)here.


Beth Ditto of the Gossip
(picture
here.She's the cutie in the middle. She's flanked by her bandmates Nathan(guitar) and Kathy(drums))
I wish there were more big girls in the world like Beth Ditto. She doesn't give a fuck what anyone thinks. That girl gets up on stage and fuckin' moves. I've seen footage. I could've seen the Gossip when they stopped in my town, but I was broke. I was hopping to do a poster for their show, so I could get in for free(pitiful, eh?), but Dave at the Pyramid already had somebody lined up. Turns out the motherfucker that did it ripped off a Frank Kozik design. I was so mad when I found out later.
But I digress...she's fine. And she's loud. She sez what she wants to. You gotta admire that.
And as a band, the Gossip has a whole mess of soul. Check their
KRS Factsheet for more details and MP3s. You'll be glad you did.

Fat chicks rule.

Just got back(well, 30 minutes ago)from "Ain't No Half-Steppin'!" at the Pyramid where the infamous Pip Skid(aka Canada's Most Dangerous MC), "Mr. Showmanship" DJ-Co-op, and DJ Hunnicutt(the suavest motherfucker in a mesh hat) brought the house down with the illest joints until almost 3 a.m. I haven't danced that much in years! And with the good shit they were playing, it was as if they didn't want me to go home! I only wish my baby was there with me...there were some fine-ass ladies there, no joke. They weren't as fine as my missus, but DAMN! It's pretty much guaranteed that if I was single again, I still wouldn't have done anything.

Because I'm a pussy.